


City of Rogues

by hawkeyedpeas (pandacowhipster)



Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Alternate Universe, M/M, Villains
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-01
Updated: 2016-03-01
Packaged: 2018-05-24 01:22:09
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,447
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6136480
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pandacowhipster/pseuds/hawkeyedpeas
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Reverb's got big plans, like taking over Central City and taking down Harrison Wells, but he's going to need some help from the Flash to make them a reality.</p>
            </blockquote>





	City of Rogues

**Author's Note:**

> Just for peace of mind, this isn't set in Earth one or two so Ronnie has his powers by himself, Stein's not trapped in there with him.

“You know who I hate?”

Caitlin doesn’t look up from her phone, “everyone?”

“Well, yeah,” Cisco concedes, “but, I was thinking specifically of Harrison Wells.”

“That scientist asshole that never shuts up on TV?” Ronnie asks.

“One and the same,” Cisco says, “I don’t know about you two, but, I prefer a little anonymity when I’m not on the job and his little metahuman detectors are making that difficult.”

“It would be nice to get coffee without everyone in Starbucks flipping out,” Caitlin muses.

“Okay so we kill him,” Ronnie says, shrugging.

Cisco smiles, “while I would love nothing more than to beat the living shit out of that pretentious douchebag, I was thinking of something with a little more finesse. Something that’ll solve our problem and take Wells out of the picture--without killing him.”

“You’re such a buzzkill,” Caitlin says.

“If we kill him, we’d just be proving him right. Trust me, what I‘ve been planning is much more fun. We will need some help though.”

Ronnie raises an eyebrow, “new recruit?”

\--

Cisco has had his eye on the Flash for some time now, even longer than he’s been planning this job. The meta’s abilities are impressive and he doesn’t seem like the power hungry sort--there’s only room for one top dog in Cisco’s crew, that’s why he doesn’t bother with the likes of Mardon or Hartley, he needs people with skills, but more than that, he needs people who can take direction. the Flash seems like just the type to fall in line, he’s stuck to petty, mostly victimless crime so far, probably thinks of himself as some sort of Robin Hood. Cisco’s also fairly certain he has someone working for him on the force, his own contacts have mentioned that investigations into the Flash’s crimes always seem to end up at the bottom of the pile, put off until the trail’s long gone cold.

All in all, the Flash has a lot to bring to the table with considerably low risk. He’s fast, but Cisco’s confident Killer Frost’s powers will slow him right down, and if that fails he’s pretty sure even the fastest man alive can’t run with all his organs ruptured. He doubts it’ll come to that though--he’s seen quite a few of the possibilities already, plus, the Flash isn’t a killer, at most he’ll just refuse their offer and run away.

There’s a quick knock on the door to his workshop before Linda enters, visor on, “they got him, boss.”

He stands and slips on his goggles, “let’s go make a new friend, shall we?”

Linda shakes her head and he knows she’s rolling her eyes under there, but she takes his arm anyway as they head out.

“Really?” Cisco says when he walks out into the main floor space of the warehouse where Caitlin and Ronnie have the Flash tied to a chair with a canvas bag over his head, “who are you, Dick Dastardly?”

“Where am I?” the Flash demands.

“Sorry about my associates,” Cisco says, taking the bag off, “I did ask them to be gentle, but there’s only so much I can do with those two.”

“What the hell do you want?” The Flash glares up at him defiantly, and Cisco’s admittedly a little impressed, the guy’s got guts to see he’s outnumbered four to one and still talk tough.

“Your help actually,” Cisco says, “but let’s get to know each other first. I’m Reverb, you’ve already met Killer Frost and Deathstorm--they’re not nearly as dramatic as their choice of aliases suggest--and this is Dr. Light.”

He eyes them all suspiciously, “I’ve heard about you on the news, you’re the rogues.”

Cisco nods, “not the name I would’ve picked, but it seems to have stuck.”

“I don’t want anything to do with you guys.”

Cisco tsks, “that sounds like the crook calling the kettle black. We’ve heard about you too, Flash, you’re no saint.”

“I never hurt anybody.”

“It’s not like we enjoy hurting people--” he glances over at Cait and Ronnie, “--well, it’s not like I enjoy hurting people, and Light here is downright pacifist. Besides, it’s not like the job I have in mind is an assassination.”

“Not. Interested.”

Cisco sighs, he hopes they don’t have to do things the hard way. “You could at least hear me out. Dr. Light, if you would please untie our guest.”

The instant he’s freed, the Flash knocks Linda down and charges at Cisco, decking him in the jaw. Hard way it is then. Cisco shoots a shockwave at the Flash’s chest, stopping him in his tracks. He sends out another continuous blast to pin him to the nearest wall, not hard enough to damage anything important, but enough to keep him there.

“Let the record show I was perfectly fucking hospitable up to this point,” Cisco says to the room at large. “What do you think this is? Starling? No archer’s swooping in to save you or anyone else in this miserable city. There are no heroes here, Flash, just bad guys and worse guys. You can rob from the rich all you want, doesn’t change the fact that everyone else in Central City is out for blood. So, you can listen to my proposition, or I can give you a hands on demonstration.

“Now, I’m going to let you go and when I do, I implore you to make good choices.” Cisco drops his hand and releases the Flash and is pleased when he doesn’t make any move to attack or run.

The Flash crosses his arms, “so?”

Cisco straightens his jacket, “like I was saying, before I was so rudely punched in the goddamn face, I have a job that serves a mutual interest. I doubt things have been going smoothly for you since Harrison Wells introduced his meta detecting watches.”

The Flash gives a reluctant nod.

“I plan to get rid of them, all of them. I have everything arranged except for one small detail, I need to get into STAR Labs undetected. I could force my way in, but for this to work, no one can know we were there and as you personally witnessed, my crew’s more flare than stealth.”

“How would you get rid of them?” the Flash asks, and Cisco knows he’s hooked.

“Agree to help me and I’ll tell you all the details you want. For now, all you need to know is that Wells is going down. He created the metas, now he wants to act like we’re a mistake and try to out us all? It’s only fitting we’re the ones to take him down. My powers plus yours? It’s foolproof.”

“I dunno,” Flash says.

“You don’t need to worry. I’ve already seen every way this can go,” Cisco says, tapping his goggles, “you end up fine most of the time.”

“Most?”

“Assuming you don’t do something stupid, like try to play hero.”

The Flash looks him over, “so you can see the future?”

“And so much more,” Cisco says, “but that’s a conversation for another day. I’ll let you think it over, we’ll meet back here in, say, two days, same time, and you can give me your answer.”

“All right.”

“Oh, and something else to consider before you go,” Cisco says, “someone has to be in charge of this hellhole, y’know, keep it from descending into total chaos. I think we’d both agree the guy who doesn’t enjoy hurting people would be the best option, especially if he owed you one... Be seeing you, Flash.”

The Flash stares at him for a long moment before zooming off in a blur of lightning.

“Guy knows how to make an exit,” Linda says with a shrug.

\--

Managing the rogues is a delicate practice. On the one hand he needs to keep an eye on them all, on the other, if they spend too much time together, they will literally rip each other apart. It took some effort and even more fraud, but he found a way to keep them under his thumb but out of his hair: the brownstone.

Located in a perfectly mundane area of Central City, the brownstone is a four story apartment building, probably intended for college students, not supervillains, but it works. They all have their own space, but are close enough to watch out for each other. It’s downright domestic.

Cisco even bought it legally… well Armando Rivera bought it legally (albeit with illegally obtained funds), he even pays his taxes. Cisco knows using his dead brother’s first name and his mother’s maiden name isn’t the most covert alias, but he was feeling nostalgic at the time, and besides, it’s not like anyone’s looking into Francisco Ramon for anything. He disappeared after the particle accelerator explosion, and was probably presumed dead, not that anyone cares.

Linda uses her apartment sparingly, she’s the most detached from all this, still goes to see her family and everything. Cisco doesn’t mention it, they should all be so lucky to have family worth giving a shit about. Caitlin and Ronnie practically moved in on the spot though, but they’ve all known each other since before the explosion, only seemed right to stick together.

Sometimes though, he wishes he’d invested in something a little more spaced out, like right now.

“I dunno, babe,” Ronnie says, rooting through Cisco’s fridge, “I think he’s going soft.”

“I know right?” Caitlin has her feet propped up on his coffee table, at least she’s taken her boots off, “Speedy socked him right in the jaw and lived to tell the tale.”

Cisco takes a deep breath and turns around in his computer chair, “do you wanna live?”

“I’m just saying,” Caitlin says with a casual shrug, but Cisco catches a quick flicker of worry in her eyes, “you didn’t even maim him a little. I’ve seen you do worse for less.”

“I told you, I need him for the job,” Cisco says, “besides, I’m trying to build something here, I can’t go flying off the handle every time someone pisses me off anymore. That’s what you two are for.”

Caitlin preens a little at that, “just saying, Cisco, you need to be careful.”

He smiles, “always am.”

\--

Not that he’ll ever admit it, but Cisco’s a little concerned about the meeting. It seems the Flash is so indecisive that all the potential futures keep piling up until there’s too many for Cisco to sort through and judge what seems most likely. He doesn’t like not knowing what’s coming next, but at least it’s exciting.

“He’s late,” Caitlin says, leaning against one of the more stable beams in the warehouse. They really should fix up the place, they’ve had so many fights in here they’re lucky it’s still standing.

“Patience,” Cisco says.

Almost as if that was his cue, the Flash waltzes in with two other people, a young woman and an older man in a suit. So he decided to bring them after all.

“Who the hell is this?” Ronnie asks, his eyes sparking.

“Frost,” Cisco says pointedly, hoping Caitlin will calm him down. He can’t have Ronnie causing a scene when he’s trying to negotiate, it makes them all look bad. “My hotheaded friend does have a point though,” he rubs his temple, “you don’t just bring a cop to meet up with criminals, it sends mixed signals.”

The Flash falters, “how’d you know he was a cop?”

“I know a lot of things,” Cisco says. It was actually a hunch, if the Flash had someone on the force willing to risk their job for him, he’d probably trust them enough to bring them along. He hadn’t known if it was the man or the woman though, but the Flash filled in that detail himself.

The man crosses his arms, “well since you know so damn much, why don’t you enlighten us as to why you kidnapped him?”

“Hey, I said, ‘bring me the Flash’, Killer Frost and Deathstorm are the ones who put a bag over his head,” Cisco says, raising his hands defensively. He’s pleased when everyone in the room flinches slightly at the gesture.

Everyone that is, except the Flash’s little girlfriend.

“What’s your problem?” Cisco asks her.

She sets her hands on her hips, “I’m not too big on people who slam my friends into walls.”

“Did he mention that was after he punched me in the face?” Cisco says pointing to the spot on his jaw.

She turns her glare on the Flash, “he conveniently left that part out.”

“This seems like more people than I’m comfortable with being involved on a job,” Linda says at his shoulder.

Cisco nods and places a hand on her back, “Dr. Light brings up a good point, while I understand bringing backup, this seems like we’ve got too many cooks in the kitchen. But, since you’re here, I assume you’re interested.”

“If I’m in, they’re in,” the Flash says, “and I have two more conditions.”

Cisco rolls his eyes, “of course you do, boyscout.”

“First, nobody dies.”

“...Fine,” Cisco says. He hadn’t planned to kill anyone anyway, but this way maybe the Flash will think Cisco cares about his input.

“Second, I wanna know who you guys are.”

“Well, I can’t make the other rogues spill--I mean, I could, but I’m not gonna--but I’ll show you mine if you show me yours,” Cisco says nodding at the Flash’s mask.

“Fine,” the Flash pulls his cowl back, to reveal a much younger--and admittedly more attractive--face than Cisco had expected, “Barry Allen. This is Joe and Iris.”

“Francisco Ramon,” Cisco says.

“All right, Francisco--”

Cisco holds up a hand, “the name’s still Reverb to you.”

The Flash-- _ Barry _ \--rolls his eyes, “whatever, you got a deal. So what exactly is your plan?”

“A virus,” Cisco says, “hidden in the next software update. Get all those watches to go haywire and start declaring that everyone and their grandmother’s a meta. It’ll discredit Wells and make any other time the watches worked seem like a fluke. Set him up like he’s trying to profit off his own screw up. Also I’d like to plant a few bugs, just to make sure he’s not cooking up anything else that would cause me trouble and of course to keeps tabs on his inevitable downfall.”

“When is this all going down?” the Flash asks.

“I’ve been preparing things for a few months, now that you’re on board, we should be all ready to go in a week or two. I’ve pretty much perfected the virus, Light’s triple checking the guard schedules, you’re the missing piece.”

Joe raises his eyebrows, “and I thought Snart was thorough.”

“Yeah, thoroughly annoying,” Cisco says, “if he were any more camp, he’d be making lanyards.”

Joe lets out a laugh and quickly covers his mouth.

“Reverb’s just mad Snart stole his cold gun,” Caitlin says.

“We settled that,” Cisco says, “he’s just lucky I was seeing his sister at the time.”

“You made his gun?” Iris asks, disbelieving.

“You dated Golden Glider?” Barry asks, sounding even more surprised.

Cisco scoffs, “guns, gear, codenames, all me, God knows they couldn’t do it themselves. That family has no imagination. Also, I don’t know if I’d call what Lisa and I had ‘dating’, but it was enjoyable at the time.”

Barry looks like he’s still judging him, not that Cisco really gives a shit.

“Oh, one more thing,” Cisco says, “We’ll need to keep in contact.”

“Sure,” Barry says, pulling a smartphone out. Given the cut of his suit Cisco’s dying to know where he was keeping it.

“Oh my god,” Cisco says when Barry hands it over, “is this your actual phone?”

“Yeah.”

“That you just carry, in costume,” Linda says.

“Yeah?”

“Fucking amateur,” Ronnie mutters.

Cisco sighs, they’ve definitely got their work cut out for them.

\--

Barry shows up the next day with Iris in tow and Cisco wonders if she has an actual job, seeing as how assisting Barry’s ridiculous criminal undertakings must be a full time gig.

“Have a seat,” Cisco tells her, gesturing toward the couch Ronnie dragged in who knows how long ago. He looks to Barry, “is that what you’re wearing?”

Barry looks down at his button up shirt and jeans, “should I have worn the suit?”

“I guess it’s fine,” Cisco says, “I just figured you wouldn’t want to get your ass kicked in your school clothes.”

Barry raises an eyebrow, “who exactly is kicking my ass?”

“Dr. Light, of course,” Cisco says nodding to where Linda’s tying her sneaker, she at least had the foresight to wear workout gear.

He is surprised she’s so comfortable being unmasked in front of these two, but Linda’s perceptive, she probably knows Barry and Iris don’t have a malicious bone between them. Cisco still prefers to keep his goggles on though, benign or not, he doesn’t like surprises.

“I have super speed,” Barry says, eyeing Linda warily as she squares up to him.

“And yet, both Killer Frost and I were able to stop you without breaking a sweat,” Cisco says, “you’re not the only out there with superpowers, you need to learn how to fight--without your speed. I don’t intend for us to run into any trouble, but if we do I need to know you can hold your own.”

“Okay, but I don’t really wanna fight her,” Barry says.

Linda smacks Barry in the face when he looks away from her, “why not?”

Barry cups his cheek, “for real?”

“She’s an incredibly skilled hand-to-hand combatant,” Cisco says, “you could learn something… unless you’d rather fight me?”

Barry shrugs, “I mean, kinda?”

“Okay,” Cisco says, shrugging his jacket off and tossing it on the couch. He rolls his shoulders and gestures for Barry to come at him.

Like an idiot, Barry charges at him head on, Cisco dodges his first punch and the one after that. On the third, Cisco grabs him by the wrist, using it to pull Barry forward so he can headbutt him. When Barry doubles over, Cisco knees him in the stomach and shoves him to the ground for good measure.

“First rule of combat,” Cisco says, squatting down beside Barry, “pick your battles. For example: maybe don’t fight the guy who can see the future.”

“Seriously,” Linda says, walking over to Cisco, hands on her hips.

“He’s all yours,” Cisco says, gesturing at Barry like Vanna White. She grins and bumps their shoulders together before she goes to help Barry up.

Cisco sits down next to Iris on the couch to watch Linda put Barry through his paces.

“So, what is she like your girlfriend?” Iris asks.

“Are you, like, Barry’s girlfriend?” Cisco asks.

“Sister, actually,” Iris says, “and I was just asking, jeez.”

“Why? Do you wanna ask one of us out, because while I’m flattered, I don’t believe in mixing business with pleasure,” Cisco says, smirking at Iris’ indignant look. “You might have a shot with Dr. Light though, I can put in a good word for you.”

“You’re so obnoxious,” Iris says.

“You know, people keep saying that,” Cisco says, stretching his arms out on the back of the couch, “I’m gonna start getting offended pretty soon.”

“Do you take anything seriously?”

“Money,” Cisco says matter-of-factly. “Other than that I like to think I’m a pretty lighthearted guy. We live in a cesspool of crime and corruption, excuse me for trying to bring a little levity to the situation.”

Iris narrows her eyes at him, “I swear, I can’t get a solid read off you.”

“It’s the shades,” Cisco says tapping his goggles, “they make me look mysterious.”

Iris cracks a smile despite herself. She quickly schools her expression and starts shouting at Barry to dodge for Christ’s sake.

\--

“I’m gonna need your measurements,” Cisco says once Barry’s finished the day’s training with Linda. They’ve been at it for a little over a week now and Barry’s slowly but surely improving, he’s finally learned how to block at least.

Barry’s quirks an eyebrow, “what?”

“I can’t have you running around in that red monstrosity,” he gestures to where Barry’s suit is draped over the back of the couch.

“I like my suit,” Barry says petulantly.

“You already leave a trail of lightning everywhere you go, I’m looking for some modicum of stealth here.”

“Fine, so you just need my pants size or what?”

Cisco pulls out a roll of measuring tape, “I need your pants  _ off _ .”

Barry grips his belt like he thinks Cisco’s going to come over and strip him himself.

“Or we can do the top first, whatever you’re comfortable with,” Cisco says, rolling his eyes.

Barry tugs his sweater and shirt off in one go, and Cisco gives him a quick once over. He’s long and lean all over, which Cisco already knew, but it’s different seeing the musculature that makes up the build, specifically the abs. He’s got a few moles scattered across all that pale skin, not that Cisco’s taking notice, but it’s a nice picture.

He stands in front of Barry and gives him a forced smile before nudging his arms up so he can get a chest measurement. He records the number on a notepad sitting on the scuffed end table next to the couch.

“Hm, thought you’d be bigger,” Cisco says just to mess with him.

Barry gives him a pointed once-over, he’s got five inches on Cisco, at least, “I guess everything must look big to you.”

Cisco gives a genuine grin at that, “so you do have some bite, I was starting to worry you were too soft for this life.”

“I can handle myself,”

Cisco pulls the tape snug around Barry’s waist, “I bet.” he writes down the measurement and a few more before wrapping the tape around Barry’s bicep, “flex,” he says, watching the tape strain around the muscle and okay, maybe he’s taking a little notice, he’s only human, well, metahuman anyway.

“You done?” Barry asks like he has something better to do. He doesn’t, all his plans for the foreseeable future are ‘learn to stop being such a shit crook’. Cisco knows because he made the schedule.

“With the top half yes,” Cisco says, looking down at Barry’s starched jeans, unimpressed. He should be thankful Cisco’s making him something to wear, the guy has no style. “Can you take your pants off now?”

Barry huffs and kicks off his shoes before unbuckling his belt and awkwardly stepping out of his jeans.

Cisco kneels in front of him, “don’t get used to the view, sparky.” He measures Barry’s inseam and the widest part of his thigh, trying not to laugh at how Barry’s standing stock still with his arms crossed, still trying to seem like a badass, even in his boxer briefs. 

Cisco writes down the last of Barry’s measurements, “see? That wasn’t so painful was it?”

“For you, maybe,” Barry grumbles, pulling his clothes back on.

“It’ll be worth it once I finish your suit, trust me,” Cisco says.

Barry scoffs at ‘trust’ but raises an eyebrow, “you’re gonna make the suit?”

Cisco shrugs, “I mean I’ll probably modify something I have lying around, but yes.”

“I figured you’d get one of your henchmen to do it or kidnap a seamstress or something.”

“Please,” Cisco says, “they’re all thumbs. And they’re not my henchmen, they’re my partners. You could be one too if you wanted, the offer still stands..”

“I’m good.”

“You sure?” Cisco asks, “I always make sure my partners are  _ thoroughly  _ satisfied. I’m a very generous villain.”

Barry stifles a laugh.

“Either way, we are doing this job together and it’d go a lot easier if you’d just admit you like me.”

“Yeah, cause you like me so much.”

Cisco steeples his fingers, “you do have a certain plucky charm. Not to mention it’s so nice to talk to someone with more interests than robbery and extortion.”

Barry does laugh at that, “don’t forget kidnapping.”

Cisco rolls his eyes, “will you get over that already? You know how many times I’ve been kidnapped?”

“How many?”

“None, I don’t let people get the drop on me like that, are you kidding?” Cisco grins.

“I hate you,” Barry says but he’s smiling too.

“That just means I’m doing my job right,” Cisco says, “now if you’ll excuse me, I need to go make a suit, size extra lanky.”

\--

Caitlin’s lounging on his bed when he gets home, he really needs more security in his apartment. He figures he should be happy she opted to pick his lock instead of freezing the doorknob and breaking it off--she’s done it before.

“How goes training?”

“It goes,” he says tugging his hair out of its ponytail.

“Still think you should let me and Ronne help,” she says.

Cisco shrugs out of his jacket and lays down next to her on the bed, “thanks for the offer, but I’d like to keep him in once piece.”

She trails her cold fingers along his temple, “I’m sure you would.”

Cisco sighs, “you can go ahead and say whatever it is you’re implying that tone.” He doesn’t want to antagonize her at the moment, she’s like a human ice pack and even though he took them off before leaving the warehouse, his head’s still throbbing a little from wearing his goggles for too long.

“Nothing,” she says, “it’s just… Ronnie said you were going soft, but I don’t think that’s it. I think...” she ups the chill coming from her fingertips until Cisco shivers, “you’re just soft on the Flash.”

“Fuck you,” Cisco says, with no heat behind it. He can’t pretend there’s not at least a little truth to her claim, considering how much flirting just went on when he was fitting Barry for his suit, but Cisco would never give her the satisfaction and admit it.

“I just want to make sure you’re not compromised. Eyes on the prize and all.”

“Please,” Cisco says, “I always get what I came for. I’m not about to get distracted by a pretty face.”

She leans into him a little more, “so you think he’s pretty?”

“Is this because I didn’t involve you on the job?” Cisco asks, “I promise, once we take down Wells, I’ll find a diamond for us to steal or something, just you and me.”

She sighs and he can feel the temperature drop, “just like old times.”

\--

“Congrats,” Cisco says, tossing Barry an envelope when he comes in.

“What’s this?” Barry asks, opening it.

“Your diploma,” Cisco says, “Dr. Light has informed me both your combat and thieving skills are now officially adequate.”

Barry looks wide-eyed at the stack of bills in the envelope, “...why are you giving me all this?”

“I told you,” Cisco says, “you proved yourself, that’s your reward. You’re here when you could be out casing ATMs or whatever smallfry bullshit you’re into, and I appreciate that. Plus, a meta’s gotta eat.”

Barry seems to reconsider, “I do put away a lot more since I got my powers.”

Cisco reminds himself to ask about that problem later, but for now there’s something he actually needs to discuss with Barry for the job.

“Not to sound creepy or anything,” Cisco says, “but I’ve been watching you for a while and I wanted to know, how reliable is that phasing through solid objects trick?”

“Yeah, no, I’m very uncomfortable with that.” Barry says, “but, uh, I’ve gotten pretty good at phasing.”

“Can you bring people with you when you do it?” Cisco asks.

Barry shakes his head, “I’m vibrating my body at the same frequency as air, it’s a lot harder to vibrate someone else.”

“Speak for yourself,” Cisco says.

“Your powers deal with vibrations, right? You could probably do it too.”

“I’ve tried,” Cisco admits, “but every time I do…” He goes over to the end table and attempts to phase his hand through, but the instant his fingers make contact, the table disintegrates into a pile of sawdust.

“Yikes,” Barry says, taking a step back.

“Yeah, I guess you’ll just have to let me in then.”

“Huh?”

“Into STAR Labs,” Cisco says, “our original plan was to have Dr. Light sneak in during the day and let me in at night, but she can’t keep invisible for that long.”

Barry’s eyebrows shoot up, “she can turn invisible?”

Cisco snaps his fingers at him, “focus. I was hoping you could phase me in, but it looks we’ll be sticking to the old plan, only with you instead of Linda.”

Barry shrugs, “okay.”

Cisco sighs, “god, you’re so compliant and non-combative. I’m a little into it, not gonna lie.”

Barry shrugs, “you know what you’re doing, I’m gonna defer to you. I mean, if I disagreed with something, I’d say so, but I don’t.”

“Are you sure you don’t wanna join my supervillain social club?”

“I’m sure.”

“Too bad,” Cisco says, “we could’ve had something special. Anyway, Dr. Light should be here any minute to beat your ass, she’s running late today.”

Barry holds up the envelope, “I thought I graduated?”

“Welcome to higher education,” Cisco says, heading into his workshop, “hope you don’t bruise easy.”

\--

Iris  seems surprised when she comes into the warehouse and finds only Cisco, Linda and Caitlin lounging around.

“Where’s Barry?”

“Deathstorm’s giving him a breaking and entering masterclass,” Cisco says. 

“What’s up with her?” Iris asks, pointing to where Caitlin’s lying on her back on the floor.

“The weather doesn’t agree with her,” Cisco says.

It’s been unseasonably warm all day and it’s only gotten worse now that it’s afternoon. Caitlin’s sprawled out directly underneath one of the warehouse’s ceiling fans. She’s in a tank top instead of her usual leather and her pale skin’s dewy with either sweat or melted ice, Cisco’s never gotten a full rundown of her biology, it seemed inappropriate to ask.

“Is she okay?” Iris asks, sounding genuinely concerned as she sits between Cisco and Linda on the couch.

“I’ve survived worse,” Caitlin says.

Iris seems to take her word on it, “so, where’d Barry and… Deathstorm go anyway?”

“Oh for God’s sake,” Caitlin says, “he’s Ronnie, I’m Caitlin. They went to go steal air conditioners and they better get back soon, I’m dying over here.”

“Why don’t you just wait some place with AC?” Iris asks.

“So someone can call the cops the second their little meta-alert goes off? No thanks.”

“Oh, I forgot,” Iris says apologetically.

“Once we plant the virus, you’ll be able to go wherever you want,” Cisco assures her.

She smiles, “and do whatever I want.”

“Sorry again,” Linda says, before turning to Iris to clarify, “I accidentally blew out some circuits this morning, shorted out quite a few major appliances in everyone’s apartments.”

Cisco waves her off, “it’s fine. It was a quick fix, besides, I never get to do electrical engineering anymore.”

“And I’ve been dying to redecorate anyway, I’ll just get new appliances while I’m at it,” Caitlin says, “once it cools down I intend to go on quite the spree.” Cisco notices she doesn’t clarify if she means shopping or crime.

“You guys live together?” Iris asks.

Cisco eyes her for a moment before he decides she’s just making friendly conversation and not looking for ways to take them out. “Room and board is part of the rogues package. We also have an excellent dental plan.”

“That’s… weirdly sweet,” Iris says, “Barry was right about you.”

Cisco raises an eyebrow, “yeah?”

“He thinks you’re secretly a lot nicer than the whole front you put up.”

“Really?” Cisco says, “you and Barry talk about me often?”

Iris doesn’t miss a beat, “why? Do you want us to?”

Caitlin scoffs, “yeah, he does.”

Cisco’s jaw drops, “who’s side are you on?”

“The side that screws with you.”

“This is what get for surrounding myself with crooks,” Cisco says, shaking his head, “which reminds me, Iris, you ever think about getting your hands dirty instead of letting Barry have all the fun?”

“I’m good,” Iris says. “I actually wanted to be a cop, but my dad said the force was corrupt as hell and he didn’t want me to get dragged down in their mess. So I got a job as a reporter but I got sacked for not writing puff pieces about mobsters. After the accident, Barry couldn’t find an honest job either so we went dishonest on our own terms.”

“Still,” Cisco says, “not much fun sitting on the sidelines.”

“Barry’s the one with powers,” Iris says, but Cisco can see the spark of interest in her eyes.

He leans into her, “you ever change your mind you let me know. I’ll build you something real pretty.”

Linda presses against Iris on her other side, “and I’d be more than happy to show you the ropes.”

“Hey, Reverb,” Caitlin says, “think you could stop orchestrating a threesome for five seconds and tell me where the hell my husband is?”

“If you insist,” Cisco says, slipping on his goggles, quickly sorting through the barrage of images flooding his vision, and focusing on Ronnie, “looks like they get in and out clean... They’re arguing... They’re laughing… Aw, bonding moment… Oh that’s hilarious, they’re stuck in traffic. They get here, you and Ronnie make out, I throw up in my mouth. The end.”

“Wow,” Iris says, “that’s amazing. You really can see the future.”

“Not quite,” Cisco says, “I can see events, but I don’t always know when they happen. Barry and Ronnie could be doing any one of the things I saw right now, unless there’s a conveniently placed clock, I’ve got no clue.”

“Still,” Iris says.

Cisco smiles, and wiggles his fingers at her, “if you want I can try and catch a vibe off you, check out where you’ve been, where you’re going.”

Iris shies away from him, “I’m good. I like my past and future where they are.”

“Shame,” Cisco says, “I was hoping to see if you ever take me up on my offer to become a full on villain. I think you’d really work a catsuit.”

Iris shrugs, “sorry Miss Cleo, you’ll just have to wonder.”

\--

“You know, you actually don’t look terrible for once,” Caitlin says.

“Thanks… I think,” Barry says.

“I dunno,” Iris says, “he looks kinda… scary.”

“Yeah, that’s the point,” Ronnie says.

Cisco doesn’t know if scary is how he’d describe how Barry looks in his new suit, he’s leaning more toward ‘oh God, what have I done?’

He had actually felt proud of himself when he finished the suit, it’s some of his best work. He used a prototype he had laying around for Ronnie because it was already designed to withstand  the heat and friction of flying around while Deathstorm was all fired up. It’s all black for both the stealth and aesthetic with dark gold accents and a lightning bolt design across the front of the jacket. He’d scrapped the cowl and went with goggles and a mask that covered the bottom half of Barry’s face. Also a hood, it wasn’t very aerodynamic, but Cisco thought it would add some menace to the overall look.

He supposes Barry does look menacing, but considering the company Cisco keeps, he’s not really fazed by it. Barry’s thighs in black leather on the other hand? Yeah, maybe giving Cisco some problems.

It’s not even like Barry’s red suit wasn’t just as form fitting, Cisco thinks it’s because Barry looks like a proper villain now and, well, Cisco’s always had a thing for danger (see: dating a Snart). 

“--yourself, Reverb.”

Cisco turns at Caitlin saying his name, “what?”

“You’ve outdone yourself?” Caitlin repeats, “setting Barry up with such a fancy suit, a girl might get jealous.”

“Don’t worry, you’ll always be my favorite,” Cisco assures her, “besides, we all know that look is working for you. It ain’t broke so I’m not trying to fix it.”

“She’s right though,” Barry says, gesturing to his suit, “it’s amazing, thank you.”

Cisco gives a little bow, “I do my best. Now that your suit’s done, I do believe we’re officially ready to ruin Harrison Wells’ life.”

\--

“Hey.”

Cisco doesn’t startle at the sound of Barry’s voice, but it’s close. “What are you doing here?”

“Couldn’t sleep, went for a run. What are you up to?”

“Plans,” Cisco says, not looking up from a blueprint of STAR Labs on his computer, it’s pretty much pointless though, he’s looked over everything so many times that if there was some flaw hiding somewhere he’d never notice it.

Barry walks up next to him, “I thought you already had everything… figured out.”

Cisco looks up, wondering why Barry paused.

“You look different,” Barry says, staring at him like he’s never seen him before, “without the goggles and the ponytail and the leather. I can actually see your eyes for once.”

Cisco’s wearing an old graphic t shirt from before he got his powers and the first pair of jeans he saw when he got up in the middle of the night and decided to go to the warehouse and look over his plans for the hundredth time. He didn’t bother to put his hair up either, more concerned with dispelling all his nervous energy than appearances.

“Sorry, if I had known you were stopping by I would have primped more,” Cisco says sarcastically but it just comes out tired.

Barry shrugs, and Cisco notices he’s also dressed down too, but in a different way, instead of the usual sweater or button up shirt he wears out of uniform, he’s got on a worn CCPD t shirt, a hoodie and joggers. He looks a lot less uptight and a lot more soft, Cisco doesn’t know how he feels about that.

“Are you okay?” Barry asks.

“Fine,” Cisco says, moving away from the table with all it’s layouts and schematics, dropping down on the loveseat in the corner of his workshop. “anxiety just gets a little worse right before a job.”

Barry sits next to him, “well it seems like you’ve got everything covered.”

“Tell that to my brain,” Cisco says, “you’d think knowing all the possibilities would be reassuring, but half the time it just means I end up with more shit to worry about. Also migraines.” He closes his eyes and basks in the black nothingness he sees, not a blue tinged vision in sight.

“I finally remembered you, you know,” Barry says after a moment.

Cisco cracks an eye open, that’s not exactly his favorite thing to hear.

“It was bugging me, I knew I’d heard your name before, but it didn’t click till the other day. I read one of your papers, back when I was in college, I guess I didn’t know it was you because I just assumed Francisco Ramon was some old professor or something.”

“You studied physics?”

“Chem, but I found one of your papers while looking for something else and it was really good.”

“You’re such a nerd,” Cisco mutters.

“Question though, how old are you? I thought you were around my age but you already had a paper published in a scholarly journal when I was in school.”

“I’m 23,” Cisco says, feeling smug.

“No you’re not.”

“I think I’d know.”

“No, no, no,” Barry says, “I’m 25, the only way for that to work would be if you were some kind of--”

“Prodigy? Genius?  _ Wunderkind _ ?”

“Smart ass,” Barry suggests.

“I’ll take it,” Cisco says, “I graduated early from pretty much everything. It was kind of a cycle, no one ever wants to hang with the kid who skipped a bunch of grades so I had a lot of free time to work on school, so I skipped more grades, and so on.”

“That sucks,” Barry says.

“No, the swirlies sucked,” Cisco says, “although, once I got my powers I may have exacted a little revenge.”

Barry pales and Cisco wave him off.

“I didn’t kill anybody, relax,” Cisco grins, “I did, however shatter all the glass in his house.”

Barry laughs, “all right, that’s pretty good.”

“You should try it some time,” Cisco says, closing his eyes again, “ actually walk on the wild side instead of just toeing the line.”

“I’m wild enough.”

“Yeah right. Come on, don’t you ever just want something really bad? Like fuck the consequences bad?”

“I, uh, it’s not that I… you’re oversimplifying things,” Barry says.

“And I think you overcomplicate things,” Cisco counters, “you gotta get out of your head more, loosen up.”

“Easier said than done.”

“Please,” Cisco says, “If can let go of all the shit constantly blaring in my head, you sure as hell can.”

“I’ll try,” Barry says.

“That’s what I like to hear. There’s hope for you yet young padawan.”

Barry bursts out laughing and Cisco startles and stares at him.

“Sorry, sorry,” Barry says, “I just can’t imagine you watching Star Wars.”

Cisco crosses his arms, “you do know I don’t spend my free time petting a persian cat and laughing maniacally right?”

“I guess I never thought about it,” Barry says.

“Well, I mean, I do have a cat but she’s a tabby.”

Barry perks up, ”really?”

Cisco shakes his head and takes out his phone, pulling up a picture “her name’s Scully.”

“She’s adorable,” Barry says.

Cisco almost suggests Barry stop by some time and see her before he checks himself. One of the few rules of the brownstone is no guests. He’d never even brought Lisa there when they were together.

This is officially a problem. Not that Cisco thinks Barry has anything to hide--the guy brought his dad to a negotiation--it’s more his own willingness to simply let Barry in to his inner circle, into his and his partners’ home that bothers him. Especially considering Barry isn’t even interested in joining the rogues.

“You know,” Barry says, pulling Cisco from his thoughts, “you’re not that bad.”

“Because I have a cat?”

Barry smiles his stupid earnest smile, “Nah, it’s just… I know I’ve been kinda, I dunno, stand-offish or whatever for this whole thing but I want you to know, I do trust you.”

Cisco feels his stomach bottom out.

“Not just with the Wells thing,” Barry adds, “but you. I know you wouldn’t do anything to hurt me, or Iris or Joe.”

Cisco bites his lip, “maybe I’m just lulling you into  false sense of security.”

“Nope,” Barry says and leans against Cisco a little.

“Well, for what it’s worth, which isn’t much by the way, I trust you too,” Cisco says.

“That means a lot to me,” Barry says and Cisco really hates him and his big, honest, hazel eyes.

Cisco sighs, “of course it does.”

\--

“All right gang,” Cisco says, slipping on his goggles, “everyone ready?”

Barry pulls up his mask, “as I’ll ever be.”

The rest of them nod in agreement and Cisco claps his hands together, “now, as much as I love Ms. Frizzle, I remind you, we take no chances, make no mistakes and if you make things messy I will rupture your fucking eardrums--for a start. Stick to the plan and we’re all sitting pretty, Dr. Light, my love, I trust you can handle comms and the computers in my absence.”

Linda flashes an OK sign, “already swapped the security feeds with a stream of the last time this shift of security guards was on duty. I’ll be keeping an eye out.”

“That’s what I like to hear,” Cisco says, “now, Deathstorm, Killer Frost, while I don’t foresee any complications, I want you two on standby so that in the unlikely event things do go south we have the option to cut our losses and burn the motherfucker down.”

Caitlin and Ronnie look far too excited at that prospect, they really should get out more.

“All right, let’s do this.” Cisco beckons Barry closer, “come on, Flash.”

“Okay,” Barry slips an arm around Cisco’s waist, “fair warning though, you might throw up.”

Before Cisco can ask for clarification on that troubling bit of news, Barry’s picked him up and they’re zooming across the city. Next thing he knows, they’re at the back entrance of STAR Labs.

Cisco steadies himself against the wall, “Light will talk you through disabling the security system once you phase inside. I’ll be waiting here, making sure all my organs are still in the right place.”

“Really sorry about that,” Barry says, pulling his hood up, “see you in a sec.”

Cisco watches him phase through the door and he’ll admit he’s kind of awed. It also reassures him that what they’re doing needs to be done. All of them, all the metas are capable of amazing groundbreaking things, but Wells and everyone else wants to act like they’re the problem. Honestly, it’s bullshit, the city went to hell long before the particle accelerator exploded, it’s not like the metas invented crime, they’re just using what they’ve got to get by.

Not that Cisco’s out to play the victim or anything, he’s done his fair share of awful things, but at least he’s realistic about it all. Plus, there are metas far more innocent than him and he wants to cut them a break, especially since no one else will. Metas like Barry.

The door swings open, “all clear,” Barry says, and Cisco just knows he’s flashing a dumb grin under his mask.

Cisco hands over the small case containing the bugs, “I’ll be in the server room, plant these somewhere discreet in all the rooms I showed you.”

Barry nods, “got it.”

“Oh and Flash?”

“Yeah?”

“Steal yourself something pretty while you’re at it. You deserve it and this place is overfunded anyway, they won’t even notice.”

Barry chuckles and races off.

Cisco quickly makes his way to the servers and gets to work hiding the virus in Wells’ software. He’s not at it for more than two minutes when Barry pops up next to him.

“Seriously?” Cisco says, not looking up from the computer.

“Fastest man alive,” Barry says.

“I bet that’s what all the girls say, too.”

Barry ignores him and hovers over his shoulder, “I have no idea what you’re doing, but it looks impressive.”

“It is,” Cisco says, “I told you I was a genius.”

Barry leans in more until he’s talking right in Cisco’s ear, “you almost done?”

“Is impatience one of your superpowers? I thought I told you to go steal something.”

“I did,” Barry says, “grabbed a centrifuge. I already dropped it off in my lab at home though, it was kinda heavy.”

“Oh my God, could you be a bigger geek?”

“That’s pretty funny coming from you,” Barry says.

“Flirt later,” Linda cuts in over comms, “you’ve only got six minutes until the next security sweep and Barry still has to turn the alarms back on.”

“Untwist your spandex,” Cisco says, closing out of everything on the computer, “I’m done.”

“Awesome,” Barry says and suddenly Cisco’s stomach lurches again and he’s standing back outside.

“Seriously,” Cisco says, “warn a guy.”

Barry just pats him on the shoulder before heading back inside to reset the alarms. He phases back out a moment later and picks Cisco up.

“This is me warning you,” he says and races back to the warehouse. Caitlin and Ronnie seem to have cut out, but Linda’s there waiting for them.

She runs over and hugs Cisco the second Barry sets him down, “you did it!”

“ _ We _ did it, girl,” Cisco says. He almost can’t believe it, they’ve practically been forced into hiding ever since Wells developed those damned watches, now they’re free to go wherever they want. Cisco can’t wait to remind Central City that metas are still Wells’ most powerful creations.

“Well,” she says, letting go of Cisco, “I don’t know about you two, but I could use a celebratory drink.”

“I actually can’t get drunk anymore,” Barry says.

Linda pats him on the cheek, “then I will have enough for the both of us. Night guys.”

Cisco watches her head out and turns to Barry, “so what’ll be boyscout? Gonna toss back a nice malted milkshake instead?”

Barry tugs his mask down, “not exactly what I was thinking.”

Cisco’s about to ask what the hell that’s supposed to mean, but Barry palms the back of his head and kisses him.

“Sorry,” Barry says when he pulls back, “I was trying to be spontaneous. Was that okay?”

“Well it was until you stopped,” Cisco says, tugging Barry closer by his hood and kissing him more roughly. 

Barry set his hands lightly on Cisco’s hips and if his mouth weren’t preoccupied Cisco would laugh, trust Barry to be  _ gentle  _ with him. He takes advantage of it though and backs Barry up against the nearest beam.

He tugs Barry’s mask down more so his neck’s exposed. He’s sucking a bruise just below Barry’s jaw when he hears the beam creak.

“Not to be crass,” Cisco says, “but I assume you’re looking to do more than kiss me?”

Barry nods dumbly, eyes still fixed on Cisco’s lips.

“Then, despite my better judgement...” Cisco says, “might I suggest we head back to my place, lest we end up with some unfortunate splinters?”

“Where do you live?”

Before Cisco’s finished rattling off his address, Barry’s already picked him up and running there.

Cisco really hopes none of the others are home, he’d never live this down. He unlocks the door to his apartment as quickly as he can, which is pretty fast considering his line of work. The second the door’s closed, Barry presses him up against it and goes back to kissing him. It seems like he’s finally picking up what Cisco’s putting down because he’s being way less delicate about it now.

Cisco yanks his goggles off and tosses them in the general direction of the couch, he wants to focus on the Barry that’s right here in front of him in the present. He slips Barry’s goggles off too, for good measure.

Barry works his fingers into Cisco’s hair and carefully undoes his ponytail, grinning when Cisco’s hair falls down in his face. Cisco just rolls his eyes and unzips the top of Barry’s suit, slipping his hands beneath the sturdy fabric of his undershirt and running them along Barry’s ribs.

“This suit is the worst thing I ever did,” Cisco mutters in between placing kisses all across Barry’s throat.

Barry’s voice is light and breathy,“why?”

“For starters,” Cisco says, pulling back so he can look Barry in the eye, “it’s a little hard to hack when I can’t stop thinking about bending you over the nearest flat surface.”

“Jesus,” Barry says before hoisting him up by his thighs so Cisco has to wrap his legs around Barry’s waist. He latches onto Cisco’s neck and bites down hard enough that Cisco knows it’s going to leave one hell of a mark. Definitely picking it up then.

“Bedroom’s that way,” Cisco says nodding his head in the appropriate direction.

Barry carries him there at normal speed, stopping every few steps to slam Cisco’s back against a wall and kiss him some more.

When he does get them into the bedroom Barry drops down on the edge of the mattress so Cisco’s in his lap. Cisco uses the new angle to grind his hips down against Barry’s, enjoying the whimper Barry lets out.

Cisco shoves Barry’s jacket off his shoulders and yanks his undershirt up over his head. He kisses Barry on the cheek and whispers in his ear, “lay back for me.”

Barry does as he’s told and Cisco takes a moment to appreciate how he looks, flushed and panting against the dark comforter. He gets off of Barry and kneels on the floor between his legs. He unfastens Barry’s pants and tugs them and his briefs down past his thighs, he bites lip at the sight of Barry’s dick, hard and starting to leak against his stomach.

He rubs his thumb along the slit just to hear Barry hiss before he gets his mouth on him. He drags his tongue from the base to the tip and back down again.

“Jesus Christ, Reverb,” Barry mutters.

Cisco pulls off, “Cisco.”

Barry lifts his head up to look at him, “huh?”

“Call me Cisco. Your dick’s going in my mouth, I think that puts us on a first name basis.”

“Cisco,” Barry echoes, “okay.”

“Attaboy,” Cisco says, planting a kiss on his hip, “now, you gonna pull my hair or what?”

Barry lets out a noise that sounds like it’s half laugh, half groan but he does grab a fistful of Cisco’s hair once he starts sucking him off in earnest. He doesn’t push Cisco’s head down like most assholes would though, it feels more like Barry’s holding onto him for dear life.

As if Cisco’s going anywhere.

He’s always had a predilection for giving head. Seeing his partner having a good time definitely gets him off, plus, it’s kind of a power trip, knowing how easy it is to wreck someone with just his mouth and maybe a few fingers. That it’s Barry’s thighs he’s got his head between only makes it better. 

Barry’s clearly enjoying himself too, if the way he’s whispering the names various deities and saints is anything to go off of.

He tugs Cisco’s hair a little harder, “hold up, hold up.”

Cisco backs off immediately, “you okay?”

Barry nods, “just give me a second. I would actually like to get your clothes off before I...” He gestures vaguely.

Cisco laughs and stands up, “have you tried thinking about baseball?”

“Shut up.”

Cisco kicks off his boots and starts to get undressed, “nuns? Nuns are always good.”

“I hate you,” Barry says, shedding the rest of his suit and laying back on the bed.

Cisco unbuckles his belt and slips out of his pants and underwear, “oh, I know, dead puppies.”

“Are you trying to make me not wanna have sex with you?” Barry asks.

“Please,” Cisco says climbing back on the bed, “you’ve wanted to have sex with me since we met.”

Barry crawls over until he’s on top of him, “really? Did you pick up on that before or after I punched you?”

“After,” Cisco says, “there was a lot of pent up frustration in that weak ass right cross.”

“You’re such a dick,” Barry says but he kisses him anyway. He presses down against him and Cisco groans at the contact. “do you have like lube or something?”

Cisco points to his nightstand, “in the drawer.”

He barely feels Barry get off him before he’s back in a blur of lightning.

“Gotta love that super speed,” Cisco says.

“That’s what I’m hoping for,” Barry says, slicking up his hand before wrapping his long fingers around both their dicks. He strokes them together a few times and once he’s got a rhythm going his hand starts vibrating.

“Oh, holy shit,” Cisco says, his head falling back against the mattress as he does his best to move in time with Barry’s hand. He’s pretty sure he’s leaving some impressive claw marks down Barry’s back, but he can’t really be bothered to give a shit at the moment.

Barry buries his face against Cisco’s neck, “good?”

“That--that’s a word for it,” Cisco says, “if I knew you could do this, I would’ve tried to fuck you ages ago, Jesus.”

Barry laughs, and switches up the tempo of his strokes.

“God, you’re amazing,” Cisco says, running his fingers through Barry’s sweaty hair.

The vibrations of Barry’s hand stutter for a moment and his whole body tenses as he comes. He pants wetly against Cisco’s neck for a second before taking Cisco in his hand again. Cisco knows he’s making some pretty shameless noises but he feels like he gets a pass considering he’s getting jerked off by a human vibrator.

Cisco’s pretty sure his vision whites out for a minute as he comes but he’s not 100% on anything right now.

He closes his eyes and attempts to catch his breath and wrangle his soul back into his body. Cisco feels Barry roll off him and get out of bed and briefly wonders if he’s sped out of the house in some sort of weird moral panic but he’s back a few seconds later with a damp washcloth. He meticulously cleans Cisco off and tosses it into the hamper by the closet.

Cisco sits up so he can get under the covers, he notices Barry’s still hovering by the edge of the bed. He rolls his eyes and pulls back the corner of the comforter, “you can stay, you know. I’m not  _ that  _ evil.”

Barry grins and switches off the light before climbing in. Cisco pulls him closer so Barry’s head is resting on his shoulder.

“So,” Barry says, draping his arm over Cisco’s stomach, “that was… something.”

“Spit it out, Barry,” Cisco says, but there’s nothing but fondness in his tone.

Barry drums his fingers against Cisco’s ribs, “it’s just… I don’t normally do this kind of thing.”

“Mhm?”

“And I was just wondering where exactly we go from here.”

Cisco sighs, “we go wherever you want. I don’t usually do this either, but I’d be lying if I said I didn’t like you.”

“You do, really? Like not just because of my powers or ‘cause you want me to join the rogues?”

Cisco sighs, “I absolutely consider you an asset in a business sense, but you could give up your life of crime tomorrow and I’d still be up your ass. There’s something about you, Barry Allen, I don’t know what it is, but I’m more than a little stupid over you.”

“That’s good to know,” Barry says, “because I’m pretty sure I’m in the same boat.”

Cisco kisses Barry’s hair, “I just want you to know, I’ve worked very hard cultivating a menacing persona and you’re really fucking it up for me.”

Barry laughs, “yeah, not sorry.”

\--

Cisco’s woken up by the sound of his phone ringing, he leans over top of Barry to grab it off the night stand. He looks at the caller ID and sees it’s Linda.

“Why the hell are you calling me so early?”

“It’s 10:30,” Linda says, “you slept in? Anyway, do you know where Barry went last night? Iris called me and said he didn’t come home and he isn’t answering his cell. I told her you guys got out okay but she’s still worried.”

“Why does Iris have your number?”

Linda sputters, “not important. Do you know where Barry went or not?”

“Relax, I’ll pass the message along if I run into him.” Cisco hangs up and chucks his phone at Barry, “call your family, they think you’re dead.”

Barry grabs the phone and blearily dials. Cisco tunes out his conversation in favor of curling up against him under the covers and dozing off again, he’s normally up by now, but he’s not really motivated to get out of bed at the moment.

After he finishes the call Barry repositions them so he’s laying on his back and Cisco’s half on top of him.

“You tell her where you were?”

“No... but she figured it out,” Barry says, dragging his knuckles up and down Cisco’s spine, “last seen with you, called her from an unfamiliar number right after Linda told you she was looking for me and apparently I’ve been mooning over you for weeks so this was the only logical conclusion.”

Cisco laughs, Iris is sharp and he definitely likes that about her, “so am I invited to family dinner?”

“I mean you can come, if you want.”

Cisco shakes his head, “you are unreal.”

“I’m really not,” Barry says.

“You’re too good for this place.”

Barry brushes Cisco’s hair out of his face, “so are you. That’s why you’re gonna change things.”

Cisco smiles, “don’t get your hopes up, I’m just looking to organize all the crime, not get rid of it. Figure I could get a few politicians in my pocket… Maybe give all the low lifes around here some direction, get them to stop mugging people and start looking into more lucrative ventures. ‘Cause let’s face it, broke people robbing broke people? nobody wins. Now if they all band together under the leadership of someone with… vision and start targeting people with actual assets, then things get interesting. Everybody eats and little old ladies aren’t getting their purses snatched, that’s what I call a win-win.”

“Except for the people you’re robbing,” Barry points out.

Cisco shrugs, “whatever. Way I see it, it’s still better than someone like Snart running things.”

“True,” Barry says.

“Plus, if all the bad guys defer to me, I can keep them under control. Minimize the chaos and mayhem.”

Barry raises an eyebrow, “are you saying you wanna keep people safe?”

“No, I’m saying there’s no profit in mindless destruction.”

“Either way,” Barry says, “I think I’d like to join you.”

Cisco grins, “for real?”

Barry nods, “I have officially gone rogue.”

Cisco cups his jaw and kisses him, “you’ve just made me the happiest supervillain in the world.” He cocks his head, “just to recap, in the last 12 hours I have: taken down Harrison Wells, recruited one of the most powerful metahumans in the city to my crew and most importantly, landed myself a smoking hot new boyfriend. By the way we’re dating, in case that wasn’t clear.”

Barry laughs, “that is pretty impressive.”

“I don’t know about you,” Cisco says, “but I think this calls for pancakes.”

Cisco throws on his old Star Wars pajama bottoms and a tshirt and loans Barry a pair of sweats he stole from Ronnie ages ago.

Barry’s hovering around the kitchen while he cooks and Cisco can’t help but think how if it were anyone else he would have cursed them out by now. He blames it on the honeymoon stage and focuses on creating the perfect pancakes.

Barry hooks his chin over Cisco’s shoulder, “hey, where’s your cat?”

“Caitlin likes to steal her whenever I’m out,” Cisco says, “gives her too many treats.”

Barry wraps his arms around Cisco’s waist, “you know you guys are like the least villainous villains ever, right?”

“Fuck you, I kidnapped a senator last year.”

“You’re making pancakes in fluffy pajamas.”

“Oh I’m sorry,” Cisco says, “are you too badass for pancakes? Because I can eat these by myself.”

“Shutting up.”

“That’s what I thought,” Cisco says, “grab some plates out that cabinet.”

They aren’t settled on the couch with their food for more than two minutes before the front door opens to reveal Caitlin holding Scully under one arm and waving a lock pick.

“Oh good you’re up.”

Cisco groans, “why the fuck do I even have a door?”

Ronnie appears over Caitlin’s shoulder, “I smelled pancakes.”

Cisco raises an eyebrow, “batter’s on the counter, you know how to work a stove.”

“Are they decent?” Linda asks, poking her head in the door, peeking from behind her fingers, “eh, they’re wearing pants, come on Iris.”

She walks in, Iris tailing behind her. 

Cisco looks around, “seriously? Okay, I know I’m already a criminal but I’m pretty sure people busting up in my house unannounced is my villain origin story.”

“Yeah…” Barry says, “I’m gonna go find a shirt.”

Cisco rubs his temple, “top drawer, bring me my gun while you’re at it.”

Barry rolls his eyes, “yeah, sure.”

“That’s actually not a joke,” Cisco says, “the safety’s off, be careful.”

Caitlin slips into the spot Barry vacated on the couch, “so?”

Cisco looks her up and down, “so, what?”

“She want’s to know our next move,” Ronnie says from the kitchen.

“And you all needed to know right now?”

Caitlin shrugs, “how were we supposed to know you weren’t up and at ‘em yet?”

“Sorry, I had a very late night.”

Iris shudders, “ew.”

“I meant the job,” Cisco says, “the next software update is set to go out in a couple days, once the virus takes, we’ll be free to roam where we please.”

“Sick,” Barry says, coming out of the bedroom in Cisco’s old NASA t shirt, it’s long enough for him but he’s definitely stretching it out at the shoulders, not that Cisco minds. He sits on the armrest next to Cisco and leans his weight on him.

“And then what?” Iris asks.

Cisco snaps back to attention, “then, I was thinking we deal with the Royal Flush gang.”

Linda snorts out a laugh, then looks around when no one else does, “deal? Royal Flush? ...it’s funny.”

“I can’t believe we were intimidated by you guys,” Iris mutters as Ronnie walks in with a plate full of pancakes.

“We’re still plenty dangerous,” Caitlin says, “we just like you guys.”

“Speaking of getting dangerous,” Cisco says, “I want Iris on this job.”

“No way,” Barry says.

“Pretty sure I’m talking to Iris,” Cisco says. “What’ll it be?”

Iris bites her lip and considers, “I’m in.”

“Excellent,” Cisco says, “now that that’s settled, let’s take down these atrociously themed scumbags.”

\--

“Hey, where are you?”

“Now’s not a good time, babe.” Cisco whispers.

Barry’s annoyed huff comes over the comms loud and clear, “what are doing that you’re on comms and won’t answer your phone?”

“I’m just out with Cait. Seriously, can we talk about this later?”

“What are you stealing?”

“ _ Sweetie _ ,” Cisco grits out, “I am literally hanging in mid air over a pressure sensitive floor, unless you wanna break me out of supermax, I’m gonna need to concentrate. I’ll tell you everything once I get home.”

Barry sighs, “fine, see you later, have fun.”

“Not. A. Word.” Cisco says once Barry’s off comms.

Caitlin spins idly from her rappelling wire and pretends to crack a whip.

“Oh, get fucked,” Cisco says, “we’re still not as bad as you and Ronnie.”

She grins, “yeah, but you get way more embarrassed.”

“Do you want this ruby or not?”

Central City was too rife with crime for the museums to host anything valuable anymore so he and Caitlin have taken a little field trip to St. Roch where the Museum of Natural History was having an exhibit on rare minerals, including an almost priceless ruby.

“Spoilsport,” Caitlin teases. She gets her game face on though and creates a shield of ice, wrapping around the podium the ruby’s on.

“I swear to god if that drips,” Cisco says.

“Then hurry up and shatter the case.”

Cisco reaches forward and taps the glass, smiling when it disintegrates into a pile of sparkling dust caught by Caitlin’s ice shield. He may not be able to phase through things like Barry, but at least he’s found a use for that trick.

“On three,” Cisco says, grabbing Caitlin by the harness.

“One,” Caitlin’s hand hovers over the ruby.

“Two,” Cisco aims his other hand at the floor, palm spread.

“Three,” Caitlin grabs the gem and Cisco blasts a shockwave at the floor to send them flying up and out of the skylight they came in through as the alarm blares.

They unhook their harnesses and scramble across the roof and down the ice slide Caitlin built in advance. They book it across the parking lot and into their running getaway van, they probably could’ve gotten Ronnie or Linda to drive, hell they could’ve gotten Barry to get it by himself and he’d be done in five minutes, it’s just the principle of it.

Besides, it’s not like they can’t do a job clean by themselves, that was how they got their start, back when Ronnie was too hotheaded to think straight, let alone focus on a job and they needed cash. They’ve always made a good team. Plus, things have been going pretty well for them lately, what with recruiting two new rogues and getting to watch Harrison Wells’ life fall apart on national television, so they felt like celebrating.

“So,” Cisco says as he gets on the highway, “satisfied?”

He catches Caitlin gazing dreamily at the ruby as she turns it around in her hands, “absolutely.”

“You gonna keep it or sell it?”

“What do you think we should do?”

Cisco shakes his head, “Nah, that’s all you, girl.”

“In that case…” Caitlin says, clutching the ruby to her chest, “I think I’ll keep it.”

“Yeah?”

“Mhm, it’s not like I need the money, and besides I have it on very good authority we’re just getting started.”

“Very true, Frost,” Cisco says, taking the exit toward Central City. “Very true.”

**Author's Note:**

> catch me on [tumblr](http://queeraang.tumblr.com/)


End file.
